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Kinnara Demi God

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
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Kinnara Demi God; In Buddhist mythology and Hindu mythology , a kinnara is a paradigmatic lover, a celestial musician , half-human and half-horse (India) or half-bird (south-east Asia). Their character is clarified in the Adi parva of the Mahabharata , where they say: We are everlasting lover and beloved. We never separate. We are eternally husband and wife; never do we become mother and father. No offspring is seen in our lap. We are lover and beloved ever-embracing. In between us we do not permit any third creature demanding affection. Our life is a life of perpetual pleasure. They are also featured in a number of Buddhist texts, including the Lotus Sutra . An ancient Indian string instrument is known as the Kinnari Veena .

In Southeast Asian mythology, Kinnaris , the female counterpart of Kinnaras, are depicted as half-bird, half-woman creatures. One of the many creatures that inhabit the mythical Himavanta . Kinnaris have the head, torso, and arms of a woman and the wings, tail and feet of a swan. She is renowned for her dance, song and poetry, and is a traditional symbol of feminine beauty, grace and accomplishment. Kinnaras are one of the exotic tribes of Ancient India mentioned along with Devas (including Rudras, Maruts, Vasus and Adityas), Asuras (including Daityas, Danavas and Kalakeyas), Pisachas, Gandharvas, Kimpurushas, Vanaras, Suparnas, Rakshasas, Bhutas and Yakshas. They along with others, were inhabitants of the Himalaya mountains. The people of the Gangetic Plain looked upon them with wonder and considered them as super-human.

In particular, the word Kinnara (literally means "what human?" in Sanskrit) is related to the word Kimpurusha (meaning "what man?" i.e. hermaphrodite, half man-half woman). Legends have it that the original Kinnaras were the troops of Ila, the unfortunate King who was transformed into a woman by means of a curse. Later he/she became a wife of the divine hermit and god of the planet Mercury, Budha, while his former soldiers were turned into kinnara by the hermit Budha. Kinnaras were mysteriously linked with horses. Puranas mention them as horse-headed beings. Puranas mention about an Asura with a horse head, who was known as Hayagreeva (which in Sanskrit means the horse headed one; Haya = horse and greeva = head) This Asura was killed by an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who took the similar form of a horse-headed human figure.
The epic Mahabharata mentions Kinnaras, not as horse-headed beings but as beings who were half-man and half-horse i.e. like a Centaur. Mahabharata and the Puranas describe regions north to Himalayas as the abode of Kinnaras. Another reference in the epic considers them as a sub-group of Gandharvas.

Hindu - Kinnara One of a mythical race of horseheaded. People, servants of Kubera. These beings acted as musicians at Kubera's court. Some say that these beings sprang from Brahma's toe, others that they were the offspring of Kashyapa. Occasionally referred to as Kinnara, Kimpurusha, Kimpurusha or Kinnara.

Japanese - Kinnara A guardian deity. One of the 28 Nijuhachi-Bushu. Sometimes identified as Kinnara, Kimpurusha, Kimpurusha or Kinnara.

Thai - Kinnara A monster, half man, half bird. Also commonly referred to as Kinnara, Kimpurusha, Kimpurusha or Kinnara.

Source

www.hinduismmythology.com